Brockton area Toyota owners are watching recall developments

Thursday

Local Toyota drivers wonder how the massive recall will affect them. “This is not just a windshield crack, it’s serious. I have my fingers crossed,” said Christen Foote of Norton.

Lisa Oliviere and her husband decided to lease a Toyota Corolla last year because gas prices were high and the car’s mileage was good.

Now, with her husband driving a Highlander, Oliviere wonders how her family will be affected by the troubles of Toyota Motor Corp., which announced its third recall since September, totaling 5.9 million vehicles, and said it would immediately stop selling eight of its models.

The actions were prompted by an unresolved problem with accelerator pedals that can become stuck and may have been responsible for accidents that resulted in the deaths of eight people in California, Texas and New Jersey.

“I’m nervous. It’s a lease. I’m not sure what we can do,” Oliviere, 40, of Easton, said as she picked up her 6-year-old daughter Catherine from school Wednesday afternoon.

“I was just watching the news and it mentioned 2009 and 2010 vehicles,” she added. “I said, ‘Oh great, that’s us, perfect.’”

Christen Foote of Norton, a teacher at the Center School in Easton, was concerned as well.

“Both my husband and I drive Toyotas,” said Foote. “He drives a 2009 Tundra and I have a 2010 Camry. We’re in the range for what they’re reporting in the newspaper. We haven’t gotten any paperwork from Toyota yet, but I have to talk to my husband about what to do next.”

Asked if it shook her faith in Toyota, Foote said, “In a way it does disappoint me. I had an Avalon prior to this, so we went with Toyota again. This is not just a windshield crack, it’s serious. I have my fingers crossed.”

Filling up the tank of his 2007 Tundra at a gas station on Belmont Street in Brockton, retiree Steve Allen, 61, of Easton, said he’s concerned about the recall even though his car isn’t one of the models included. He said he’s had electrical problems with the car before, and since the lease is up in August, he won’t likely be getting another Toyota.

“I think it’s time to go back to an American car,” he said.

Phyllis Cabana’s 2002 Camry isn’t among those recalled, but she’s following the news, hoping hers doesn’t make the list.

“I love my Camry,” said Cabana, of Middleboro.

“That model has been good to me, I can find no fault with it,” said Cabana, adding she gets 33 miles per gallon on the highway. “I’m watching the news, hoping for the best.”

Jamie Stewart of Halifax drives a 2007 RAV 4 that is not part of the recall. While she doesn’t harbor any qualms about driving her vehicle, she wonders if Toyota has really identified all years that are involved.

Stewart has been following Toyota’s recent recall of Prius floor mats. Her friend who owns one was told to take the mats out, but now in the face of the recent recall, Stewart said Toyota may not be telling all.

“Whatever the issue, blaming it on the floor mat is ridiculous,” she said.

Stewart said that if her pedal ever sticks, she has “no doubt” she would be able to put it in neutral and use the emergency to brake to stop. But she conceded that a sticking gas pedal could unnerve some people, “even if they are cool-headed in a crisis.”

Still, some were unfazed by the recall.

George Tingus, 67, of Canton, a customer of Bob’s Auto Body and Service in Brockton, drives a 2009 Tacoma. He said he has always driven Toyotas and will continue to drive them despite the recall.

His last car, a 1996 Tacoma, was one of the models that got recalled in Toyota’s last major recall. Despite the recall, Tingus says, “It was the best 246,000 miles I ever got out of a car.”

Jamie Gibson, 40, of Easton, said he has confidence in his 2003 Sienna minivan, which he bought just a couple of weeks before his daughter was born.

“I’ve driven it 60,000 miles and not one thing is wrong with it, except for the YMCA cards she stuffed into the CD player,” said Gibson. “I’m not concerned about my van.”

Pam Dollfuss, 55, of Brockton, a teacher’s assistant at the Joseph H. Downey Community School, who’s been driving her 2004 Corolla for six years, said she has never had any problems with her car. Still, she planned to get her car checked out even though it was not in the recall.

“Better safe than sorry,” she said.

Enterprise intern Robert Weitzman and correspondent Alice Elwell contributed to this story.

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